Social Media
Did you ever consider if you hurting your social media marketing strategy or helping it? When it comes to social media marketing, many businesses and marketers have already developed their strategy based on advice. Some of them are either outdated or doesn’t apply to small businesses. In addition many small business owners are overwhelmed and unable to to keep up with all the advice available for engaging on social media.
Below are five myths about social media marketing that can hurt your results.
Myth #1. Social Media is Free
Many business owners spend significant amount of time and energy promoting their business on social media because they view it as free advertising. This is a big mistake as many businesses are invest all of their time in social media marketing only to be left with no results.
The truth: Social media costs a lot of time
An organic post on instagram won’t make you a dent in your bank account but it will consume a lot of time. When deciding how much time to spend on social media marketing, it is important to evaluate what your time is worth. If you are a freelancer charging $50 amount per hour for your work each hour you spend on social media will cost you $50.
Myth #2: You Must Be on Every Social Media Platform
Trying to be on every social media platform is not only exhausting but it is also nearly impossible to experience results by focusing on many platforms.
The truth: Be where your ideal customer is
When assessing social media platforms for your business, it is important to make the decision based on your ideal client and which platform they engage with most often.
What you should consider is to build a detailed buyer persona that outlines the demographics, buyer behaviors, challenges and goals of your ideal customer. Your buyer personal will help you identify which social media platform your ideal customer is most active as well as where they go to get information about your type of business.
Myth #3: Social Networks Are Broadcast Channels
The number one mistake that many businesses make on social media is to use their social media platforms as a broadcast channel. They create a post after post about their company. They share press release every product update and exhaust every promotion.
Social media is not the place to brag about yourself of your business. Unless you are Apple, your followers do not care about your latest press releases or new products updates!
The truth: Social Media are interactive channels
The content your post on social media should be less about you and your business and more about your ideal customer.
Share content that provides value to your audience and let them to engage with your posts.
The best way to increase engagement on social media is to ask questions. Questions like “this or that?” will spark a debase and generate comments.
Myth #4: You Have to Post Multiple Times Within the Day
This is one of the most widespread myths about social media marketing and one of the most detrimental. If you are a small business owner, it is nearly impossible to post 3-5 times on social media and many business owners sacrifice their health or the health of their business in an attempt to abide by this myth.
The Truth: You need to post consistently
The true results on social media come from posting consistently, regardless of the number of posts every day.
Stop worrying about posting multiple times per day but instead identify a frequency that is sustainable to maintain long term.
This may mean you’re only posting a few times a week on social media, which is plenty to produce results as long as you’re consistent.
Myth #5: Social Media is Great for Finding New Customers
No matter which social media platform you use, it is very rare to attract a brand new customer for your business through an organic social media post.
The Truth: Social media is great for connecting with existing customers
When creating social media content, focus on content designed to build deep relationships with your existing customers. Over time, as they engage with your content and you continue to provide value, they will become repeat customers as well as they will share your posts with others and recommend you to their personal network.
Conclusion
It is important to note, that social media marketing is a long term strategy. Your goal should not be to go viral or get thousands of likes on a post. Instead, focus on consistently creating valuable content for your ideal customer.
The value you provide will build connections, strengthen relationships, and produce ongoing results for your business.
